Object-image displaying apparatus

ABSTRACT

In an object-image displaying apparatus, a plurality of part designating switches disposed at positions corresponding respectively to locations of parts in an object image to be composed are operated to read out a part pattern of the relevant part from a part-pattern memory, which previously stores a plurality of part patterns of each of the parts. The read out part patterns are combined into an object image, and the combined object image is displayed on a display device and is printed by a printer. Further, a plurality of part designating switches provided respectively in correspondence to a plurality of part images displayed on the display device are operated to read out a part pattern of the relevant part from among plural sorts of part patterns stored in a memory. The read out part patterns are combined into an object image, and the object image is displayed on the display device and is printed by the printer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an object-image displayingapparatus which is capable of composing and displaying an image of ahuman being, an animal and a building.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] There has been known a so called montage composing apparatus,which is capable of composing an image of a human face in a similarmanner in which a montage picture is produced. The montage composingapparatus is provided with a part-pattern memory which stores pluralsorts of part patterns of each of face parts, the face parts composingan image of a human face, such as eyes, a nose, a mouth, eyebrows, anoutline, a hair style and so on. Further, on the montage composingapparatus are installed a part-designating switch for designating a facepart and a part-pattern selecting key for selecting one of a pluralityof part patterns of the designated face part, which are operated duringthe process of composing a portrait or a face montage of a person.

[0005] With the above mentioned structure, a face part is selected atfirst by operation of the part-designating switch to compose a portraitof the person. For example, if an image of eyes in the portrait iscomposed, the face part “eyes” is designated first out of a plurality offace parts by operation of the part-designating switch. Then, one of thepart pattern of the designated face part “eyes” is displayed on adisplay device. In place of the first displayed part pattern of the facepart “eyes”, other part patter of the “eyes” is selected and displayedfrom among the plurality of part patterns of the “eyes” by operation ofthe part-pattern selecting switch. Further, another part pattern of the“eyes” is displayed instead of the last displayed part pattern by thefollowing operation of the part-pattern selecting switch. In this way, adesired part pattern of the “eyes” can be selected and displayed on thedisplay device by operation of the part-pattern selecting switch.

[0006] When the desired part pattern of the “eyes” is determined, otherface part, for example, a face part “nose” is selected by operation ofthe part-designating switch. Then, a part pattern of the face part“nose” is displayed on the display device. Another part pattern of the“nose” is displayed in place of the first displayed part pattern byoperation of the part-pattern selecting switch. A different part patternof the “nose” is successively displayed in place of the last displayedpart pattern every operation of the part-pattern selecting switch.

[0007] When the desired part pattern of the “nose” is determined,another face part, for example, a face part “mouth” is selected byoperation of the part-designating switch.

[0008] In this manner, with respect to other face parts: “eyebrows”,“outline”, “hair style” and so on, similar operations are performed todetermine desired part patterns of the individual face parts. Finally,the selected part patterns of the respective face parts are combined tocompose the portrait or the face montage of the person.

[0009] As described above, in the conventional montage composingapparatus, the part designating switch and the part-pattern selectingswitch have to be alternatively operated each time a face part isdesignated and a relevant part pattern of the designated face part isselected. The conventional montage composing apparatus requires a userto do complex operations, and it will take much of time to complete theportrait accordingly, whereby a desired portrait can not be made easilyin a short time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention has been made to overcome the abovementioned inconvenience involved in the prior art, and has an object toprovide an object-image composing apparatus which is capable ofcomposing and displaying a desired image or a montage of an object witheasy operation.

[0011] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided anobject-image displaying apparatus which comprises:

[0012] part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of partpatterns, each sort of part patterns representing one of parts whichcompose an object;

[0013] display means for displaying an image of the object;

[0014] a plurality of operation switch means disposed at positionscorresponding respectively to locations of the parts in an object imageto be composed, each for reading out a part pattern of the relevant partfrom said part-pattern memory means; and

[0015] display control means for controlling said display means todisplay an object image composed of a combination of part patterns readout by said plurality of operation switch means.

[0016] According to other aspect of the invention, there is provided anobject-image displaying apparatus comprising:

[0017] first display means for displaying a plurality of part imagescomposing an image of an object;

[0018] part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of partpatterns, each sort of part patterns representing one of parts whichcompose an object;

[0019] a plurality of operation switch means provided, respectively, incorrespondence to the plurality of part images displayed on said firstdisplay means, each for reading out a part pattern of the relevant partfrom said part-pattern memory means; and

[0020] second display means to display an object image composed of acombination of part patterns read out by said plurality of operationswitch means.

[0021] According to further aspect of the invention, there is providedan object-image displaying apparatus comprising:

[0022] part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of partpatterns, each sort of part patterns representing one of parts whichcompose an object;

[0023] first display means for displaying a first object image which iscomposed of a combination of a plurality of part patterns, the partpatterns representing parts composing the object respectively;

[0024] a plurality of operation switch means provided respectively incorrespondence to the parts composing the object, each for reading out apart pattern of the relevant part from said part-pattern memory means;

[0025] part-pattern substituting means for substituting a part patternread out by said plurality of operation switch means for the relevantpart pattern originally included in the first object image displayed onsaid first display means; and

[0026] second display means for displaying a second object image whichis composed of a combination of both the part patterns originallyincluded in the first object image and the part patterns substituted bysaid part-pattern substituting means.

[0027] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there isprovided an object-image displaying apparatus comprising:

[0028] part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of partpatterns, each sort of part patterns representing one of parts whichcompose an object;

[0029] display means for displaying an object image which is composed ofa combination of a plurality of part patterns, the part patternsrepresenting parts composing the object respectively;

[0030] a plurality of operation switch means provided on said displaymeans respectively in correspondence to the parts included in the objectimage displayed on said display means, each for designating a partpattern among a sort of part patterns of the relevant part stored insaid part-pattern memory means;

[0031] reading means for reading out a part pattern designated by saidoperation switch means; and

[0032] display control means for controlling said display means todisplay an object image composed of a combination of the part patternsread out by said reading means.

[0033] It would be apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing description of preferred embodiments that the presentinvention may be modified in various manner and may be applicable toother apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Other objects and structures of the present invention will bemore fully understood from the description, when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0035]FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a displaying/printingapparatus incorporating an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a palm-data input unit;

[0037]FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of a montage-data input unit;

[0038]FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0039]FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating states in which partpatterns for a human are stored in a part-pattern ROM;

[0040]FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating states in which partpatterns for a palm and conclusion data are stored in a palm/conclusionROM;

[0041]FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing various data stored in a RAM;

[0042]FIG. 8 is a general flow chart of operation of the embodiment ofthe displaying/printing apparatus;

[0043]FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a process for inputting and registeringaddress and text data;

[0044]FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a montage composing/registering processfor composing and registering a human montage;

[0045]FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a montage-data combining process;

[0046]FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a montage composing/registering processfor composing and registering a palm montage;

[0047]FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a searching/displaying process;

[0048]FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a printing process;

[0049]FIG. 15A is a view showing an example of indication of composedportraits;

[0050]FIG. 15B is a view showing an example of indication of aconclusion of palm reading;

[0051]FIGS. 16A and 16B are views showing examples of printed namecards, respectively;

[0052]FIG. 17 is a view showing an example of a printed post card;

[0053]FIG. 18 is a view showing a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0054]FIG. 19A is a view showing a third embodiment of the presentinvention; and

[0055]FIG. 19B is a flow chart of operation of the third embodiment ofFIG. 19A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0056] Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[FIRST EMBODIMENT]

[0057]FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a displaying/printingapparatus incorporating an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2is an enlarged view illustrating a palm-data input unit in detail. FIG.3 is an enlarged view illustrating a montage-data input unit in detail.FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the invention.

[0058] In FIG. 1, the displaying/printing apparatus 1 has an externalcasing 2. On an upper surface of the casing 2, there are provided aninput unit 3 including a plurality of switches and a liquid crystaldisplay unit (hereafter, sometimes referred to as a display unit) 4. Apalm-montage composing switch 5 and a palm-data input unit 6 areprovided in vicinity to the liquid crystal display unit 4. On thepalm-data input unit 6 is drawn a palm 61 of a left hand of a person asshown in FIG. 1. The enlarged left hand palm 61 is shown in FIG. 2.Further, there are drawn several lines such as a health line, a marriageline, a heart line, an intelligence line, a life line and a fortune line(a job line) in the drawn palm 61. As shown in FIG. 2, a fingerprintswitch 62 is disposed at a finger tip 6A of the left hand palm 61 drawnon the palm-data input 6. Though the fingerprint switch 62 is providedonly at the tip of the index finger 62A in the present embodiment,fingerprint switches may be provided at each of the tips of the fingers62B-62E. In addition to the fingerprint switch 62, there are provided ahealth-line switch 63, a marriage-line switch 64, a heart-line switch65, an intelligence-line switch 66, a life-line switch 67 and a job-lineswitch 68, respectively, on the health line, the marriage line, theheart line, the intelligence line, the life line and the job line on thedrawn palm 61.

[0059] Further, there are provided on the upper surface of the externalcasing 2 a montage-data input unit 7, a human-montage composing switch8, a data-input switch 9 and a register switch 10. An input unit 12 iscomposed of the montage-data input unit 7, the human-montage composingswitch 8, the data-input switch 9 and the register switch 10. An outlet11 for discharging a card C, which is printed by a printer 18 (see FIG.4) mounted in the casing 2, is provided on a side wall of the externalcasing 2. As shown in an enlarged view of FIG. 3, the montage-data inputunit 7 is composed of a plurality of part-designating switches 70-79,and these switches 70-79 are disposed at relevant locations on thesurface of the external casing 2, which locations correspondrespectively to positions of parts in a montage of a human body to becomposed. More specifically, the montage-data input unit 7 includes ahair-style switch 70, eyebrow switches 71, eye switches 72, ear switches73, a nose switch 74, outline switches 75, a mouth switch 76, handswitches 77, a dress switch 78 and feet switches 79. The hair-styleswitch 70, the eyebrow switches 71, and other switches have shapes whichcorrespond respectively to parts of the montage to be composed, each ofwhich parts is designated by the relevant switch. In other words, forexample, the hair-style switch 70 is made in a shape similar to a hairstyle and the eyebrow switches are made in a shape similar to eyebrows.

[0060]FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the embodiment of thedisplaying/printing apparatus 1. In FIG. 4, operation data of theswitches such as the hair-style switch 70 and the eyebrow switches 71 ofthe input unit 12 are entered to a central processing unit (CPU) 13. Inaccordance with a program stored in a program ROM 14A of a ROM 14, theCPU 13 performs a control operation of the displaying/printing apparatus1 on the basis of data stored in a work RAM 15A of a data RAM 15.Further, the CPU 13 controls a display driving circuit 16 which drivesthe liquid crystal display unit 4. The CPU 13 controls aprint/conversion processing unit 17 to convert montage data andcharacter data entered from the input unit 12 into printing data. Theprinter 18 performs a printing operation in accordance with a signaloutput from the print/conversion processing unit 17.

[0061] The ROM 14 is composed of the program ROM 14A, a humanpart-pattern ROM 14B shown in FIG. 5 and a palmpart-pattern/conclusion-data ROM 14C shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG.5, the human part-pattern ROM 14B stores fifty (50) sorts of humanpart-patterns for each of 10 parts such as “outline”, “hair style”,“eyes”, . . . , and “feet”, which correspond respectively to thepart-designating switches 70-79 of the montage-data input unit 7. Theabove 50 sorts of human part-patterns are different in shape, and arestored in relevant areas in the ROM 14B, to which areas numbers“01”-“50” are assigned, respectively. The palmpart-pattern/conclusion-data ROM 14C includes a palm part-pattern area(A) and a conclusion-data area (B), as shown in FIG. 6. Fifty (50) sortsof palm part-patterns for each of 7 parts such as “life line”,“intelligence line”, . . . , and “fingerprint”, which correspondrespectively to part-designating switches 62-68 of the palm-data inputunit 6, are stored in relevant areas corresponding respectively tonumbers “01”-“50” in the palm part-pattern area (A) are stored. Fifty(50) sorts of conclusion data of palm reading or fortunetelling withrespect to each of the 7 parts such as “life line”, “intelligence line”,. . . , and “fingerprint” are stored in relevant areas of theconclusion-data area (B), which areas correspond respectively to numbers“01”-“50”. In short, 350 sorts (50 part patterns for each of 7 parts) ofconclusion data in total are stored in the conclusion data area (B).

[0062] The data RAM 15 includes a display register 150, a work area 151for composing a montage, and a data area 152 for storing data of aperson and his (her) family for each of items 1, 2 and so on. As shownin FIG. 7, each of the items in the data area 152 consists of a personaldata area 153 for storing personal data of the person: Mr. A or Mr. B,and family-data areas 154 for storing data of members of family of Mr. Aor Mr. B.

[0063] The personal data area 153 and the family data areas 154 aredivided into an address/text data area 155, a montage-data area 156 anda palm-data area 157. The address/text data area 155 stores address/textdata such as names and addresses of the persons and members of his (her)family. As shown in FIG. 7, in relevant part areas of the montage-dataarea 156 are stored montage data or pattern numbers (shown in FIG. 5)corresponding part-patters of each of the parts such as “outline”, “hairstyle”, “eyes” and so on, which patterns are input by operations of thepart-designating switches 70-79 of the montage-data input unit 7.

[0064] Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in relevant part areas of thepalm-data area 157 are stored palm data or pattern numbers (shown inFIG. 6) corresponding palm part-patters of each of the parts such as“life line”, “intelligence line”, “fingerprint” and so on, which partpatterns are input by operations of the part-designating switches 62-68of the palm-data input unit 6.

[OPERATION OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT]

[0065] Now, operation of the first embodiment with the above mentionedstructure will be described with reference to flow charts of FIGS. 8-14.

[0066]FIG. 8 is a general flow chart of the operation of the firstembodiment. FIGS. 9-14 are flow charts of processes executed atindividual steps of the general flow chart of FIG. 8. At step SA1 of thegeneral flow chart of FIG. 8, an inputting/registering process isperformed, wherein address data and text data or text data are entered.The inputting/registering process is performed to input address data andtext data in accordance with a flow chart of FIG. 9. In theinputting/registering process, it is judged at step SB1 of FIG. 9whether the data- input switch 9 has been operated. When the data-inputswitch 9 has been operated, an indication of “name, address, phonenumber?” is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 at step SB2,thereby requesting a user of the apparatus to input an address and textdata. At the following step SB3, it is judged whether a name, an addressand a phone number have been input. Processes at steps SB2 and SB3 arerepeatedly performed until these data: “name”, “address” and “phonenumber” have been input. During the processes at steps SB2 and SB3, theuser inputs these data: “name”, “address” and “phone number” byoperation of switches of the input unit 3.

[0067] When the data: “name”, “address” and “phone number” have beeninput, a next indication of “age, height?” is displayed on the displayunit 4 at step SB4. At step SB5, it is judged whether data: “age” and“height” have been input. Processes at steps SB4 and SB5 are repeatedlyperformed until these data: “age” and “height” have been input. Duringthe processes at steps SB4 and SB5, the user inputs these data: “age”and “height” by operation of switched of the input unit 3. When thedata: “age” and “height” have been input, an indication of “text?” isdisplayed at step SB6, thereby requesting the user to input text data.At step SB7, it is judged whether text data has been input.

[0068] When the text data has been input, an indication of “name,address, phone number, age and height of a member 1 of the family?” isdisplayed at step SB8, thereby requesting the user to input these data:“name”, “address”, “phone number”, “age” and “height” of the member 1 ofthe family. It is judged at step SB 9 whether all the data of the member1 have been input. When all the data of the member 1 have been input,data: “name, address, phone number, age and height of members 2, 3 andso on of the family are input in a similar manner described above.

[0069] When all the necessary data have been input, it is judged at stepSB11 whether the register switch 10 is operated. When the registerswitch 10 has been operated, the data: “address” and “text data” thathave been input are stored in the address/text data area 155 of the RAM15 at step SB12, and operation returns to the general flow chart of FIG.8.

[0070] At step SA2 of the general flow chart of FIG. 8, a montagecomposing/registering process is performed, where montages of a personand a palm are composed and registered in accordance with flow charts ofFIGS. 10-12. The montage composing/registering process that composes andregisters the montage of a person is performed in accordance with theflow chart of FIG. 10.

[0071] More specifically, the montage composing/registering process of aperson starts with operation of the human-montage composing switch 8 atstep SC1. When it is determined at step SC1 that the human-montagecomposing switch 8 has been operated, a montage of a fundamental type“01” is initially set at step SC2 to display a fundamental montage of aperson of an initial setting stage. The montage of a fundamental type“01” is a combination of part-pattern numbers “01” for ten parts:“outline” 1, “hair style” 2, “eyes” 3, . . . and “feet” 10, which arestored respectively in relevant areas in a column of “01” of the humanpart-pattern ROM 14B shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, ten part-patternnumbers “01” for all the parts (a part-pattern number “01” of the partof “outline” 1 to a part-pattern number “01” of the part of “feet” 10,all data for one person) are initially set respectively in part areas ofthe montage-data area 156 of the data RAM 15 at step SA2.

[0072] Then, a montage composing process is performed at step SC3. Inaccordance with a flow chart of FIG. 11, the montage composing processis performed based on the part-pattern numbers of the fundamental type“01” or based on the part-pattern numbers stored in the montage-dataarea 153.

[0073] More specifically, in the montage-composing process of FIG. 11,the part pattern number of the part “outline” 1 is read out from amongthe initially set part-pattern numbers, at step SD1, and an outlinepattern corresponding to the read out part pattern number “01” of thepart “outline” is read out from the relevant area in the column of “01”of the part-pattern ROM 14B, and is transferred to a montage-composingarea 151 of the data RAM 15 at step SD2. Then, a part pattern number“01” of the part “hair style” is read out from among the initially setpart-pattern numbers at step SD3, and a hair style pattern correspondingto the read out part pattern number “01” of the part “hair style” isread out from the relevant area in the column of “01” of thepart-pattern ROM 14B, and is transferred to the montage-composing area151 of the data RAM 15 at step SD4. Similarly, processes are performedwith respect to other parts: “eyes”, “nose”, “mouth” and so on at stepSD5, and part patterns for the parts are transferred to themontage-composing area 151 to be combined therein. The composed montageis displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 at step SD6.Therefore, at the initial setting time immediately after themontage-composing switch 8 has been operated, the montage of thefundamental type is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 atstep SD6. The fundamental type of montage of a full-length figure iscomposed of the part patterns which correspond respectively to thepart-pattern numbers “01” of the respective parts: from “outline” to“feet” and are stored in corresponding areas in the column “01” in thepart-pattern ROM 14B of FIG. 5.

[0074] Meanwhile, at step SC3 of FIG. 10 and the following steps, it isjudged whether the part-designating switches 70-79 are operated andprocesses associated therewith are performed.

[0075] It is judged at step SC4 of FIG. 10, whether an outline switch 75has been operated. When it is determined that the outline switch 75 hasbeen operated, the part- pattern number “01” of the part “outline”,which has been initially set at an outline area of the montage-data area156, is renewed to “02” and transferred by operation of the outlineswitch 75 at step SC5, and then is subjected to the part-patterncombining process at step SC3. Therefore, only the part pattern “01”corresponding to the part “outline” is replaced with the part patternwhich corresponds to the part-pattern number “02” of the part “outline”designated by operation of the outline switch 75. In this manner, thepart pattern of the part “outline” included in the montage of thefull-length figure displayed on the display unit 4 is sequentiallyrenewed and displayed every operation of the outline switch 75. Since 50sorts of part patterns of the part “outline” are stored, 50 partpatterns of the part “outline” can be substituted for the correspondingpart pattern included in the montage of the full-length figure displayedon the display unit 4 by operation of the outline switch 75. Therefore,a desired part pattern of the part “outline” or a part pattern mostsimilar to the desired part pattern can be selected from among 50 sortsof part patterns, and can be displayed on the display unit 4.

[0076] When it is determined at step SC4 that the outline switch 75 hasnot been operated, it is judged at step SC6 whether a hair style switch70 has been operated. When a hair-style switch 70 is operated, the partpattern number “01” of the part “hair style” which is registered in ahair-style area of the montage-data area 156 will be changed to thepart-pattern number “02” of the part “hair style” designated byoperation of the hair-style switch 70, and registered in the hair-stylearea of the montage-data area 156 at step SC7. Therefore, only the partpattern “01” of the part “hair style” is replaced with the part patterncorresponding to the part-pattern number “02” of the part “hair style”designated by operation of the hair- style switch 70. Since 50 sorts ofpart patterns of the part “hair style” are stored, 50 part patterns ofthe part “hair style” can be substituted for the corresponding partpattern included in the montage of the full-length figure displayed onthe display unit 4 by operation of the hair-style switch 70.

[0077] Similarly, it is judged respectively at steps SC8, SC10, SC12,SC14 whether the switches 72-79 have been operated. When the switches72-79 (from an eye switch 72 to a feet switch 79) are operated,corresponding part-pattern numbers are changed to desired part-patternnumbers, respectively. In this manner, every part-pattern number can bechanged to a part-pattern number corresponding to the desired partpattern or corresponding to a part pattern most similar to the desiredpart pattern. As a result, a montage of the full-length figure or aportrait can be displayed on the display unit 4, which has been modifiedby the user based on the initially displayed fundamental style ofmontage of the full-length figure.

[0078] When a desired montage is displayed on the display unit 4, aregister switch 10 is operated, or characters “O” and “K” are entered byoperation of the alphabet switches. Then, the operation goes from stepSC16 to step SC17, where the part-pattern numbers of the partsdesignated by the part-designating switches 70-79 are stored, as montagedata, respectively in relevant part areas of the montage data area 156,which part areas correspond to areas of the address/text data area 155where the name of the relevant person, and his (or her) personal datahave been stored in accordance with the flow chart of FIG. 9. When theprocess of registering and displaying the composed montage has beenfinished, the operation returns to a process at step SA3 of the generalflow chart of FIG. 8.

[0079] In the meantime, a montage composing/registering process ofcomposing and displaying a palm montage will be performed in accordancewith the flow chart of FIG. 12. The process starts with operation of thepalm-montage composing switch 5 at step SE1. When it is determined thatthe palm-montage composing switch 5 has been operated, the palm montageof a fundamental type “01” is initially set at step SE2 to display thepalm montage at an initial setting stage. The palm montage of thefundamental type “01” is a combination of all part-pattern numbersstored in areas in the column of “01”, which areas correspondrespectively to seven parts (from “life line” to “fingerprint”) storedin areas in the column of “01” of a palm-data area (A) shown in FIG. 6.All part-pattern numbers of a palm which correspond respectively toseven part patterns (“life line” to “fingerprint”) composing a palmmontage are initially set respectively in the part areas of thepalm-data area 157 of the RAM 15.

[0080] Then, the montage-composing process is performed at step SE3. Ina similar manner described with respect to the composing/registeringprocess of a person, the montage-composing process is performed based onthe part-pattern numbers of the fundamental type “01” in accordance witha flow chart of FIG. 11. Therefore, at the initial setting stage, thepalm montage of the fundamental type is displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay unit 4, which palm montage is composed at step SE3 by combiningthe part patterns of the “heart line”, “intelligence line”,“fingerprint”, “health line”, “marriage line” and “fortune line”, whichare stored in the areas in the column of “01” of FIG. 6.

[0081] Meanwhile, during processes at steps SE4-SE17 of FIG. 12, it isjudged whether the switches 62-68 (from a fingerprint switch 62 to alife-line switch 68) have been operated and associated part-patternnumber changing processes are executed. More specifically, it is judgedat step SE4 whether the life-line switch 68 has been operated. When itis determined that the life-line switch 68 has been operated, alife-line part number, which has been initially set to “01”, is renewedto “02” and registered at step SE5, and then is subjected to the abovemontage-composing process at step SE3. Therefore, only the part patternof the part “life line” corresponding to the initially set part-patternnumber “01” is replaced with the part pattern corresponding to thepart-pattern number “02” designated by the life-line switch 68. Everyoperation of the life-line switch 68 successively changes only the partpattern of the “life line” combined in the palm montage displayed on theliquid crystal display unit 4. Since 50 sorts of part patterns of thepart “life line” are stored, 50 part patterns of the part “life line”can be successively changed by successive operations of the life-lineswitch 68. Therefore, a part pattern of the life-line which has the bestresemblance to that of the person can be selected out of 50 sorts ofpart patterns and displayed on the display unit 4.

[0082] When it is determined that the life-line switch 68 has beenoperated, it is judged at step SE6 whether an intelligence-line switch66 has been operated. When a result of judgement at step SE6 is “YES”,the part-pattern number of the part “intelligence line” will be changedfrom “01” to “02” at step SE7. Then, the part pattern corresponding tothe part-pattern number “01” of the part “intelligence line” is changedto a part pattern corresponding to part-pattern number “02”. Similarly,since 50 sorts of part patterns of the part “intelligence line” arestored, the part pattern of the part “intelligence line” can be selectedout of 50 sorts of part patterns by operation of the intelligence-lineswitch 66.

[0083] Similarly, it is judged respectively at steps SE8, SE10, SE12,SE14 and SE16 whether a fortune-line switch 67, an heart-line switch 65,a marriage-line switch 64, a heart-line switch 63 and the fingerprintswitch 62 of FIG. 2 are operated. When it is determined that thefortune-line switch 67, the heart-line switch 65, the marriage-lineswitch 64, the health-line switch 63 and the fingerprint switch 62 areoperated, part-pattern numbers are replaced with those designated byoperations of the relevant switches, respectively, and the designatedpart-pattern numbers are registered. The part-pattern numbers includedin the palm-montage of the fundamental type “01” are replaced with thepart-pattern numbers, respectively, each of which corresponds to thepart pattern that has the best resemblance to a relevant pattern on thepalm of the person. Then, the palm montage TM of the person which hasbeen modified by the user is displayed on the display unit 4 (refer toFIG. 15(B)).

[0084] When the desired palm montage TM is displayed on the display unit4, the register switch 10 is operated or characters “O” and “K” areentered by character switches. Then, the operation goes from step SE18to step SE19, where all the designated part-pattern numbers of the palmof the person are registered respectively in the relevant part areas ofthe palm data area 157, which corresponds to the area where the personaldata of the person are previously registered in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 9. When the process of registering/displaying the palmmontage is finished, the operation returns to step SA3 of the generalflow chart of FIG. 8.

[0085] At step SA3, a searching/displaying process is performed inaccordance with a flow chart of FIG. 13.

[0086] More specifically, it is judged at step SF1 whether a searchswitch 3A of the input unit 2 is operated. When it is determined thatthe search switch 3A has been operated, an indication of “word to besearched for?” is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 at stepSF2. Then, at step SF3, the user inputs, by operating the switch of theinput unit 3, the same search data as anyone of names of persons (Mr. A,Mr. B and so on) among the personal data which are previously stored inthe RAM 15. At step SF4, it is judged whether the input search datacoincides with any of the names previously stored as personal data.

[0087] When the search data input by the switch operation coincides withone of names in the personal data stored in the RAM 15, thecorresponding “address/text data”, “montage data” (part-pattern numbers)and “palm data” (part-pattern numbers) are read out at step SF5. Partpatterns of the person and part patterns of the palm, which correspondrespectively to part-pattern numbers composing the montage data and thepalm data, are read out from the data RAM 15 and are transferred to themontage-composing area 151 of the data RAM 15 at step SF6. At step SF7,it is judged whether family data of the person, whose name coincideswith the input search data, have been previously stored. When “YES”,processes in a loop (from step SF5 to step SF7) are repeatedlyperformed, wherein all the relevant family data: “address and textdata”, “montage data” and “palm data” are read out. As shown in FIG.15A, together with the read out “address and text data”, portraits ormontages of full-length figure and palm montages of all members of thefamily bearing numbers “1”, “2”, “3” and so on are simultaneouslydisplayed on the display unit 4 based on the montage data and the palmdata at step SF8. In FIG. 15A, the portraits ( face montages, in placeof montages of the full-length figure) of all the members of the familyare displayed bearing numbers presenting the order of registration, andnames “NM” among the address and the text data are displayed togetherwith the portraits on the display unit 4. The user can see on thedisplay unit 4 the portraits or montages of the full-length figure ofall the members in the family together with relevant address and textdata.

[0088] Then, it is judged at step SF9 whether the palm switch 3B of theinput unit 3 has been operated. When it is determined that the palmswitch 3B has been operated, relevant palm part-patterns correspondingto the palm part-pattern numbers composing the palm data andfortunetelling data corresponding to the palm data are read out from thepalm part-pattern area (A) and the conclusion-data area of the palmpart-pattern/conclusion data ROM 14C, respectively, at step SF10. At thesame time, the addresses and text corresponding to the palm data areread out from the address/text data area 155, and a palm montage TScomposed of a combination of the read out palm part-patterns, the readout address and text data and the read out conclusion data offortunetelling are simultaneously displayed on the display unit 4 atstep SF11, as shown in FIG. 15B. As illustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B, atstep SF11, on the liquid crystal display unit 4 are displayed not onlythe palm montage TS of the relevant person but also the conclusion dataof fortunetelling with respect to the palm lines TSA and the fingerprintTSB. Further, the name NM and the address JS are displayed on thedisplay unit 4.

[0089] When the displaying process is finished, the operation returns tothe process at step SA4 of the general flow of FIG. 8.

[0090] At step SA4, a printing process is performed in accordance with aflow chart of FIG. 14.

[0091] It is judged at step SG1 whether a printing-start switch 3C isoperated. When it is determined that the printing-start switch 3C hasbeen operated, it is judged at step SG2 whether a name-card switch 3D isoperated. When it is determined that the name-card switch 3D has beenoperated, it is judged at step SG3 whether a printing format is set to alateral-direction printing format or a longitudinal-direction printingformat. When the lateral-direction printing format is set, since theaddress data and montage data have been designated as a result of thesearching operation performed in the searching/displaying process, thedesignated address and montage data are converted into data in thelateral-direction printing format at step SG4. In the presentembodiment, since all data are previously supposed to be printed in alateral direction, data in the lateral-direction format are stored inthe data RAM 15. Therefore, only when data are to be printed in alongitudinal direction, the above data-converting process of step SG4 isexecuted.

[0092] At step SG5, a montage is printed based on the designated montagedata in a size defined by age data or height data among the designatedaddress data. Therefore, a montage of an older person is printed in alarger size while a montage of a younger person is printed in a smallersize. The montage is printed in a similar manner with respect to theheight of the person. The montage is also printed in a size previouslydetermined by the user.

[0093] The address included in the designated address data is printed,for example, with a 1×2 font size or with a 2×1 font size at step SG6,and the name included in the designated address data is printed with a2×2 font size at step SG7. During the processes at steps SG5 to SG7, aname card M printed in the lateral direction or in the longitudinaldirection is produced. On the name card M, the name NM is printed with a2×2 font size, the address JS with a 1×2 font size, and the montage TSis printed in a size L1 corresponding to the age of the person. Asdescribed above, only by searching for address and text data byinputting search data and operating the printing-start switch 3C, theaddress JS and the name NM are printed on the name card CM, and themontage TS of the object person is automatically printed on the namecard CM. Further, since the montage TS is printed on the name card CM inthe size L1 corresponding to the age or the height of the person, themontage can be represented in a size in proportion to the age and theheight of the person.

[0094] When the name-card switch 3D is not operated, it is judged atstep SG8 whether a postcard switch 3E is operated. When the postcardswitch 3E has been operated, it is judged at step SG9 whether theprinting format is set to the lateral-direction printing format or thelongitudinal-direction printing format. In case the printing format isset to the lateral-direction printing format, the designatedaddress/text data and montage data are converted into data in thelateral-direction format at step SG10. A montage M1 is printed based onthe montage data in a size determined based on the age and the height ofthe person. or in a designated size at step SG11 as illustrated in FIG.17. The text is printed with a 4×4 font size at step SG12, and theaddress TS and the name NM are printed with a standard font size at stepSG13. Further, it is judged at step SG14 whether any family data isstored in the RAM 15. When it is determined that the family data isstored in the RAM 15, the family data and the relevant montage data areread out from the address/text data area 155 and the montage-data area156, respectively, at step SG15. Montages M3 and M4 corresponding to theread out montage data are printed in sizes determined based on the ageor the height represented by the age data or the height data in the readout family data, or in previously designated sizes at step SG 16. Inother words, if the object person is 100 years of age, the montage ofthe person will be printed in the largest size. On the contrary, if theobject person is one year of age, the montage will be printed in thesmallest size. Further, if, for example, the object person is 200 cm.tall, the montage will be printed in the largest size, and if the objectperson is 50 cm. tall, the montage will be printed in the smallest size.During the processes at steps SG11 to SG16, a post card H is produced,on which a text BN of “A Happy New Year” is printed with a 2×2 fontsize, an address JS and a name NM are printed with the standard fontsize, and further the montages of the family members are printed insizes proportional to their ages, as shown in FIG. 17. As describedabove, only by searching for the address/text data by inputting thesearch data, and operating the printing-start switch 3C and the switch3E, the text BN of “A happy New Year”, the address JS, the name NM andthe montages M1-M3 of the person to be searched for are automaticallyprinted on the postcard H. Since the montages M1-M3 are printed on thepostcard H in the sizes L2, L3 in accordance with the ages and theheights of the persons, the portrait M1 of an adult or a tall person maybe printed in the size of L2 and the portrait M3 of a child or a nottall person may be printed in the size L3. The montage of a person maybe drawn in a size in proportion to the age or the height of the person.

[0095] When the printing-start switch 3C and the postcard switch 3E arenot operated, it is judged at step SG17 whether a text switch 3F isoperated. When it is determined that the text switch 3F has beenoperated, it is judged at step SG18 whether the printing format is setto the lateral-direction printing format or the longitudinal-directionprinting format. In the case that the lateral-direction printing formathas been set, text data and montage data stored in the data RAM 15 areconverted into data in the lateral-direction format at step SG19. Then,it is judged at step SG20 whether a montage switch 3G is operated. Whenit is determined that the montage switch 3G has been operated, themontage is printed at first in a size previously designated by the userat step SG21, and then the text data is printed in a size designated bythe user at step SG22. Meanwhile, when the montage switch 3G has notbeen operated, the text data is printed at first in a size previouslydesignated by the user at step SG23, and then the montage is printed ina size designated later. The operation of the montage witch 3G willdetermine whether the montage is printed before the text is printed orthe text is printed before the montage is printed. Therefore, the useris allowed to determined positions where the montage and the text areprinted by operation of the montage switch 3G.

[SECOND EMBODIMENT]

[0096]FIG. 18 is a view showing a second embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 18, like elements in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-17 aredesignated by like reference numerals, and their description will beomitted there.

[0097] In the second embodiment, there are provided a plurality ofpart-designating touch switches 70-79, which are disposed at locationscorresponding respectively to positions of the parts in an object imageto be composed. Further, next to the part-designating touch switches70-79, there is a display unit 4 for displaying an object image M whichis composed of a combination of part patterns of the respective partsdesignated by the part-designating touch switches 70-79. Thepart-designating touch switches 70-79 are made of touch sensors or touchtype switches which are actuated with the finger tip of the user, a penor a touch rod. When the user touches one of the touch switches 70-79with his finger tip, the relevant part pattern is selected and read outfrom a plurality of part patterns stored in the part-pattern ROM 14B.The part patterns read out in this manner are combined into an objectimage M, and the combined object image M is displayed on the displayunit 4. Further, the present embodiment is provided with the printer 18which prints the object image M displayed on the display unit 4.

[0098] With the above described structure, when the touch switches 70-79are operated, the relevant part patterns are read out from thepart-pattern ROM 14B, the read out part patterns are combined into theobject image M, and the combined object image M is displayed on thedisplay unit 4 and simultaneously printed by the printer 18.

[0099] Since the display unit 4 and the plurality of touch switches70-79 are provided in close proximity, the part pattern of the partdesignated by the touch switch is displayed on the adjacent display unit4. Therefore, the user can compose his desired object image M viewingthe respective part patterns on the display unit 4, thereby the user isallowed to compose a montage with ease in a short time.

[0100] In the above described embodiment, there are provided a pluralityof part-designating touch switches 70-79, which are disposed atlocations corresponding respectively to positions of the parts in theobject image to be composed. However, it is not always necessary thatthe part-designating touch switches 70-79 be disposed at the locationscorresponding respectively to the positions of the parts in the objectimage to be composed. For example, the part-designating touch switches70-79 may be disposed in a matrix arrangement, respectively, incorrespondence to the parts in an object image to be composed.

[THIRD EMBODIMENT]

[0101]FIGS. 19A and 19B are views illustrating a third embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 19A, a plurality of transparent touchswitched 70-79 are formed on the display unit 4, and part patternscorresponding to parts designated by operation of the transparent touchswitches 70-79 are displayed as part marks at positions right under therelevant transparent touch switched 70-79. The part marks displayed onthe display unit 4 may be marks corresponding respectively to the partsdesignated by the touch switches 70-79, but in the present embodiment,if the part of “hair style”, for example, is designated by operation ofthe touch switch, a part pattern of the part of “hair style” isdisplayed at a position right under the operated touch switch.

[0102] When the user touches one of the touch switches 70-79 with hisfinger tip, a part pattern of the relevant part is selected and read outfrom among plural sorts of part patterns stored in the part pattern ROM14B. An object image M composed of a combination of the part patternsread out in this manner is displayed at a position right under thetransparent touch switches 70-79 on the display unit 4. The thirdembodiment is also equipped with the printer 18 of the same structure asthe second embodiment. Other structure of the third embodiment is thesame as the second embodiment.

[0103] With the above mentioned structure of the third embodiment, whenone of the plurality of transparent touch switches 70-79 is operated,the relevant part-pattern number is substituted for the originalpart-pattern number in the processes of steps SC4-SC15 of FIG. 10, andthe part pattern corresponding to the substituted part-pattern number isselected and read out from among the plural sorts of part patternsstored in the part-pattern ROM 14B in the processes at steps SD1-SD5 ofFIG. 19B. The read out part pattern is substituted for the original partpattern, and the substituted part pattern and other original partpatterns are combined in the montage composing area 151. Then, an objectimage M composed in this manner is displayed on the display unit 4. Atthe same time, the part pattern corresponding to the part designated bythe part designating switch is displayed at the position right under theoperated transparent touch switch 70-79 on the display unit 4 (see stepSD6A of FIG. 19B). The object image M displayed on the display unit 4 isprinted by the printer 18 in a similar manner as described withreference to FIG. 14.

[0104] Further, with the above structure of the embodiment, since partpatterns having corresponding shapes are displayed respectively atrelevant positions on the display unit 4 right under the transparenttouch switches 70-79, the user can operate the touch switches viewingthe part patterns on the display unit 4. In this way, the user cancompose his desired object image M with ease in a shorter time.

[FOURTH EMBODIMENT]

[0105] In the above embodiments of the invention, the objects whoseimages are to be composed are humans, and their portraits and montagesof a full-length figure are composed and printed. But other animals,plants or buildings may be objects, and their montages are composed withthe present displaying/printing apparatus. In this case, if an image ofa building is composed, it is preferable that the part-designatingswitches (7: 70-79) for designating the parts of the building such as aroof, a chimney, poles and a floor are disposed at positionscorresponding respectively to the positions of these parts in an imageof the building to be composed.

[ADVANTAGES OF EMBODIMENTS]

[0106] With the above mentioned structures of the invention, only byoperation of the part-designating switches 62-68, 70-79 preparedrespectively for parts composing an object (a whole object or a portionof the object) whose image is to be composed, the part itself and thecorresponding part pattern can be designated simultaneously and directlywithout making a mistake. Accordingly, using the part patterns thusdesignated, the montage of the object can be composed and displayed withease in a short time.

[0107] Meanwhile, in conventional montage-composing apparatus,part-designating switches are not disposed at positions corresponding topositions of parts in a montage to be composed, but are disposedindependently of positions of the parts in the montage of the object.Further, part-pattern designating switches are disposed independently ofthe positions where the part-designating switches are disposed.Therefore, when the user wants to operate the part-designating switch,he often operates the part-pattern designating switch instead of thepart-designating switch in error, and vice versa. It is hard to composethe montage with the conventional montage-composing apparatus in a shorttime. However, the object-image displaying apparatus according to thepresent invention is provided with the part-designating switches 62-68,70-79, which are disposed at the positions corresponding respectively tothe positions of the parts in the montage to be composed. Thepart-designating switches 62-68, 70-79 can be used as the part-patternselecting switches to select part patterns. Therefore, the user canoperate the correct part-designating switch which corresponds directlyto the part to be designated, without operating other part-designatingswitch in error.

[0108] Further, the part-designating switches 62-68, 70-79 have externalshapes corresponding respectively to shapes of the parts composing theobject whose montage is to be composed. Therefore, the user can directlydesignate his desired part by operating a correct part-designatingswitch without making a mistake.

[0109] Furthermore, by operation of the part-designating switches 62-68,which are prepared respectively for the parts composing the palm montageto be composed, a desired part is designated, and a part pattern of thedesignated part is displayed and a relevant conclusion of thepalm-fortunetelling (palm-reading) with respect to the displayed partpattern is displayed. Therefore, palm data (conclusion ofpalm-fortunetelling) corresponding to his own palm of the user or thepalm of other can be displayed together with the corresponding palmpattern with ease.

[0110] Several embodiments of the present invention have been describedin detail but these embodiments are simply illustrative and notrestrictive. The present invention may be modified in various manners.All the modifications and applications of the present invention will bewithin the scope and spirit of the invention, so that the scope of thepresent invention should be determined only by what is recited in thepresent appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An object-image displaying apparatus comprising:part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of part patterns,each sort of part patterns representing one of parts which compose anobject; display means for displaying an image of the object; a pluralityof operation switch means disposed at positions correspondingrespectively to locations of the parts in an object image to becomposed, each for reading out a part pattern of the relevant part fromsaid part-pattern memory means; and display control means forcontrolling said display means to display an object image composed of acombination of part patterns read out by said plurality of operationswitch means.
 2. An object-image displaying apparatus according to claim1 , further comprising a printing means for printing the object imagedisplayed on said display means.
 3. An object-image displaying apparatusaccording to claim 1 , wherein the object image to be composed is animage of a human face, the parts correspond respectively to an outline,hair style, eyes, nose and mouth among the part composing the humanface, and each sort of part patterns represent various images of therelevant part.
 4. An object-image displaying apparatus according toclaim 1 , wherein said plurality of operation switch means are formed inshapes corresponding respectively to the parts composing the object. 5.An object-image displaying apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein saidplurality of operation switch means are each provided with an externallyoperable touch-switch, and the touch switches are provided on saiddisplay means.
 6. An object-image displaying apparatus according toclaim 1 , wherein said plurality of operation switch means each comprisean externally-operable transparent touch-switch provided on said displaymeans and a part-mark display means, said mark display means disposed ata location corresponding to the transparent touch-switch, for displayinga part mark at a position on said display means corresponding to thetransparent touch-switch which is operated by a user.
 7. An object-imagedisplaying apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the part markdisplayed by said part-mark display means represents a part pattern ofthe part which is read out from said part-pattern memory means byoperation of the externally-operable transparent touch-switch.
 8. Anobject-image displaying apparatus comprising: first display means fordisplaying a plurality of part images composing an image of an object;part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of part patterns,each sort of part patterns representing one of parts which compose anobject; a plurality of operation switch means provided, respectively, incorrespondence to the plurality of part images displayed on said firstdisplay means, each for reading out a part pattern of the relevant partfrom said part-pattern memory means; and second display means to displayan object image composed of a combination of part patterns read out bysaid plurality of operation switch means.
 9. An object-image displayingapparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising a printing means forprinting the object image displayed on said second display means.
 10. Anobject-image displaying apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein saidfirst display means and said second display means are providedseparately from each other.
 11. An object-image displaying apparatuscomprising: part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of partpatterns, each sort of part patterns representing one of parts whichcompose an object; first display means for displaying a first objectimage which is composed of a combination of a plurality of partpatterns, the part patterns representing parts composing the objectrespectively; a plurality of operation switch means providedrespectively in correspondence to the parts composing the object, eachfor reading out a part pattern of the relevant part from saidpart-pattern memory means; part-pattern substituting means forsubstituting the part pattern read out by said plurality of operationswitch means for the relevant part pattern originally included in thefirst object image displayed on said first display means; and seconddisplay means for displaying a second object image which is composed ofa combination of the part patterns originally included in the firstobject image and the part patterns substituted by said part-patternsubstituting means.
 12. An object-image displaying apparatus accordingto claim 11 , further comprising a printing means for printing thesecond object image displayed on said second display means.
 13. Anobject-image displaying apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein saidplurality of operation switch means and said second display means areprovided separately from each other.
 14. An object-image displayingapparatus according to claim 11 , wherein said plurality of operationswitch means disposed at positions corresponding respectively tolocations of the parts in the first object image displayed on said firstdisplay means.
 15. An object-image displaying apparatus according toclaim 11 , wherein the first object image displayed on said firstdisplay means is composed before said plurality of operation switchmeans are operated and the second object image displayed on said seconddisplay means is composed after said plurality of operation switch meansare operated.
 16. An object-image displaying apparatus comprising:part-pattern memory means for storing plural sorts of part patterns,each sort of part patterns representing one of parts which compose anobject; display means for displaying an object image which is composedof a combination of a plurality of part patterns, the part patternsrepresenting parts composing the object respectively; a plurality ofoperation switch means provided on said display means respectively incorrespondence to the parts included in the object image displayed onsaid display means, each for designating a part pattern among a sort ofpart patterns of the relevant part stored in said part-pattern memorymeans; reading means for reading out a part pattern designated by saidoperation switch means; and display control means for controlling saiddisplay means to display an object image composed of a combination ofthe part patterns read out by said reading means.
 17. An object-imagedisplaying apparatus according to claim 16 , further comprising aprinting means for printing the object image displayed on said displaymeans.
 18. An object-image displaying apparatus according to claim 16 ,wherein said display control means controls said display means todisplay, close to said plurality of operation switch means provided onsaid display means, the object image composed of a combination of partpatterns read out by said reading means.
 19. An object-image displayingapparatus according to claim 16 , wherein said display control meanscontrols said display means to display, apart from said plurality ofoperation switch means provided on said display means, the object imagecomposed of a combination of part patterns read out by said readingmeans.